The first stage of Samarcanda Project will take place at the Certosa Island in Venice, where on May 7th will be presented the installation piece Volumes:Water, which will be exhibited for the whole time of the Biennale exhibition (May 8th-November 22nd), and the other artworks and performances of the project.

Volumes:Water, sponsorized by Fonti Alpine Maniva, has been selected among the final works of Premio Arte Laguna, one of the most important international art prizes dedicated to contemporary art, and has been exhibited in occasion of the dedicated exhibition from March 21st until April 5th in the spaces of Nappe dell’Arsenale in Venice. Another example of this piece of work will be exhibited during the solo retrospective exhibition of the artist at PAN museum in Naples (July 8th-30th 2015).

The attention to this particular natural element, water, and to its value, is able to open a dialogue between this artwork and the particular history and geography of Venice, a city which has developed thanks to and around water, due to the commercial trades that had transformed Venice into the magnificent city we can see today; and specifically, the attention to water lets Volumes capable to integrate itself in the historical and natural context of the Certosa Island. The Isola della Certosa is part of the history if the City: since the 13th century has housed an agostinian and certosinian monastery which performed agricultural and cultural activities; after the suppression of the religious orders under Napoleon, the island was destined to military purposes, with the construction of the Pirotecnica della Certosa, armaments industry and firing range. After many years of abandonment, a project of recovery has begun in the last years, though the creation of a natural reserve, nautical services and new agricultural and handicraft activities. Due to the particular attention of Volumes:Water to social issues, the artwork is perfectly able to insert itself in this requalification project, founded on the idea of sustainable turistic and natural development, and preservation of the preexisting natural heritage.